Task New York

Store History

Founded:
2009

Founded by:
Anne Seally

Headquarters:
100 N. 3rd St. Brooklyn, NY 11211

As the founder of Task, I wanted to create a shop that reflects a whole life, which can be about fashion, home, work and children. In spirit, Task is a neighborhood emporium – a place where one can find a mix of contemporary design objects for the home, global-chic clothing and accessories, and thoughtful and imaginative gifts. We show only what we love and our inventory changes frequently, but will always reflect the signature aesthetic and discerning taste that governs our choices.
I have worked in the design and fashion industry for more than thirty years. There was some schooling in there, several different career iterations, several different countries, a child. I have done my own thing and have worked for others. And over the years I have built close relationships with manufacturers, craftspeople, and artists from all over the world. These relationships are a source of personal joy and inspiration. Simply put, I wanted to re-connect with the core of my ideas about design, to work with people whose company I enjoy, to create an environment where I love to spend my time, and to spend my days surrounded by beautiful things.
Objects are important. They reflect and shape our identity. They influence our moods and inform our interactions with the world around us. Objects are the tools that bring meaning to our daily rituals, and living with objects we love can make us happy. When well designed, they survive year after year and age with grace. We seek out simple, beautiful, and functional products from around the world, with a lasting aesthetic that transcends short-lived trends, and the designers we work with are all operating on a similar plane.
People sometimes ask me "why the name Task?". I have no good reason really, but it wasn't until the word popped into my head out of the blue one day, that it all became clear. At the time I was working on pure instinct - distilling all of those vaporous first ideas into a solid form - and it stuck with me. It's a practical word. It rolls off the tongue in a pleasant way. It's laden with meanings and associations. There's something solid and a little old-fashioned about it. Yet it is tidy and modern at the same time. It's evocative. Design is a way of communicating visually, of stripping away the superfluous and finding the elusive essence of a thing, or an idea. So the word became the name of my store - and somehow its essence.

Task New York is a neighborhood shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that sells a unique collection of apparel, gifts, and housewares with an refined urban sensibility.

The objects here are both beautiful and functional, and it's the kind of place where you can find things you had never seen before and suddenly realize you can't live without. Influences come from all over the globe and right in our backyard - if owner Anne Seally likes an item, she will sell it in her store. It is this cohesive point of view that makes Task New York so fun to shop.